Karim El-Bar
01 July 2022•Update: 01 July 2022
LONDON
British holidaymakers have continued to suffer summer blues in July as airlines and airports are undergoing cancelations and chaos.
British Airways have already announced a 10% reduction in flights between March and October, which is around 80,000 flights.
The airline's staff at Heathrow voted to strike after the airline refused to roll back a 10% pay cut introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Both RyanAir and EasyJet have also been hit by strike action by staff in Spain, a popular summer holiday destination for British holidaymakers.
Other flights are being canceled at short notice.
The airlines blame staff shortages, with Brexit being cited as a major reason.
“The pool of people is smaller, it’s just maths. We have had to turn down a huge number of EU nationals because of Brexit,” EasyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren told the Independent.
British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps released a 22-point action plan to deal with the crisis, but his plan was branded as disappointing by the industry as critics alleged it was simply a rehashing of previous statements.
Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh said: “Brits have been facing weeks of travel disruption, and this Conservative government have been missing in action.
“These reannounced half-measures will do little to clear the huge delays in security checks and tackle the chronic low pay holding the industry back.”
